Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Lo Kon Ting Memorial College

Transcription

1 Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Lo Kon Ting Memorial College Add: Long Ping Estate, Yuen Long, NT URL: Tel: (852) Fax: (852) Study Tour to England 2008

2 Introduction Hello! Welcome to join us to visit England! In the summer of 2008, 14 students from our school and 30 students from other secondary schools enrolled in the two-week English Immersion Programme in Exeter and experienced a very extraordinary trip in London afterwards. We captured the precious moments in the written form with lots of photos. Now, let s share our feelings and comments about our unforgettable journey. Writers: F.1D Ng Wan Yee F.5A Cheung Chi Chung F.5B Au Yeung Wai Yee F.5B Chan Lok Ting F.5B Leung Nga Hei F.5B Lee Ka Wai F.5B Wan Oi Ling F.5B Ngan Heung Pui F.5C Ng Nga Yee F.5E Ngai Ho Ching

3 My First Impression about UK Today was my first day of my trip to England. I arrived at the Hong Kong Airport at 8:00 p.m. Then, I went to check in. After that, I traveled by BA0026 to go to Britain. After around 13 hours, I reached the Heathrow Airport. I arrived at the Heathrow Airport at 5:30 a.m. It was my first time to visit the Heathrow Airport. I really looked forward to seeing this airport because the airport is a new airport in Britain. The airport was open in March, The beginning of this airport was a chaos. Some of the tourists had a delay in getting their luggage back and some airplanes failed to land the airport caused by some technical problems. Nowadays, the Heathrow Airport has taken a sharp turn. The problems are solved. It is a wonderful airport in Britain. It is similar to the Hong Kong Airport in many ways. After we got the luggage, our group waited near the baggage carousel. The teacher introduced themselves to us. Then they taught us how to choose a suitable phone plan. The phone plans in Britain are very interesting. The phone companies used the animals as the names of their plans, such as Camel and Dolphin! I have never heard that in Hong Kong in the past. After choosing my phone plan, we called our parents immediately. Lastly, we left the airport and waited for a couch to take us to Oxford. It was summer in Britain but I felt it was like the autumn in Hong Kong. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this special feeling! F.5B Au Yeung Wai Yee We ve just phoned home! Hello! I m now at the Hong Kong Airport. 3

4 My First Impression about UK After a twelve-hour flight, I arrived at the Heathrow Airport located in London in the early morning. On one hand, I felt very sleepy and tired. On the other hand, I was really nervous and excited as I was actually in England right now! The Heathrow Airport is the principal and the biggest airport serving the United Kingdom. Moreover, it was the world s third busiest airport for passenger traffic last year. Terminal 5, where I visited this morning, was newly built and was opened on March It is used exclusively by British Airways. When we arrived at the airport, it was quiet and empty because it was 5 a.m.! The design of the airport was really modern and the facilities there were clean and new. Yet, all the signs were written in English. It was quite a strange thing to me as I used to read Chinese in Hong Kong. Compared with the Hong King International Airport, the Heathrow Airport was bigger, nicer, more impressive and more futuristic. Furthermore, the British people were cheerful and friendly. There were always smiles on their faces. When I was at the cash desk, the cashier who was an old lady chatted with me happily and asked me a lot about Hong Kong. Also, British people were very helpful. Every time I needed help, they stopped to help solve my problem. I could feel that England was a place full with loads of love and care which were from the bottom of their hearts. My first impression towards the UK was great. I felt that it was a beautiful and wonderful place. Even though the British worked at a slow pace, I was sure that I would definitely enjoy this living style in the coming three weeks! Yes! We ve finally arrived! F.5E Ngai Ho Ching 4

5 My Visit to the University of Oxford I am dreaming to study at the University of Oxford. However, I don t think my dream will come true. In Oxford, the 3 most interesting sites that attract my eyesight are Oxford City Centre, the campus of the University of Oxford and the Oxford Botanic Garden. Oxford City Centre is a very good place if we wish to shop for clothes, electronics, have lunch or maybe just hang around with our friends. The Westgate Shopping Centre is located where the "West Gate" used to stand. You can find many major shops there, including Primark, Bhs, Marks & Spencer, Top Shop, Sainsbury's, Sports World and Game. There are also other major shops in the Oxford City Centre, including Debenhams, HMV, McDonalds, Burger King, Boswells of oxford and Waterstones Book Shop with a restaurant inside. Oxford City Centre is the most interesting place because I bought my first souvenir there. Also, I had my first breakfast there, too. The University of Oxford comprises 39 colleges, each of which has its own buildings, staff and students. Also, it comprises 6 religious Permanent Private Halls, which are autonomous self-governing corporations within the university. All teaching staff and students studying for a degree of the university must belong to one of the colleges or PPHs. Oxford University is one of the most respected universities in the world. The University is interesting because it contains many colleges. Everyone dreams to study there. This is also my dream. The Oxford Botanic Garden is the oldest botanic garden in Great Britain and the third oldest scientific garden in the world. In 1621, Sir Henry Danvers contributed 5,000 to set up a physic garden for "the glorification of the works of God and for the furtherance of learning". The garden contains over 8,000 different plant species. It is one of the most diverse yet compact collections of plants in the world and includes representatives from over 90% of the higher plant families. I think it is interesting because the view there is so beautiful. I feel very comfortable there. F.5C Ng Nga Yee What a wonderful place! 5

6 My Visit to the University of Oxford Before I visited the University of Oxford, I thought it looked like a small village. All the classrooms were located in a few buildings only. But, Oxford looks much different from the image in my mind. My first impression of Oxford is that there are trees around us, the air is clean and the buildings are small. The environment makes me feel comfortable. After walking for 15 minutes, we arrived at the centre of Oxford. There weren t many people in the street when we arrived as it was only about 9 a.m. We went to one of the biggest supermarkets in England, Sainsbury. Then, I realized that milk is much cheaper than water and bread is the cheapest goods there! After finishing our first breakfast in England, we met our tour guide, Monica. She took us to walk around Oxford. On the way, we saw many colleges and libraries. Some of them are the first buildings of that building style. How amazing! Oxford, a very old city, is beautiful. There are grand buildings everywhere, such as the roads, the churches and the shops. All of them are elegant! Can you see the Oxford Castle at the back? F.5A Cheung Chi Chung Please take a photo for us. 6

7 Afternoon Activities in Exeter On 19 th July, I made a visit to Dartmoor National Park. We travelled to that place by coach. After getting off the coach, we needed to walk a long distance to enter the park. In fact, Dartmoor was a village. There were a lot of magnificent ancient buildings. It was unquestionable that they were very attractive. It was very windy because it locates at the coastal area. First of all, we walked to the beach. There was a mountain cave near the ocean. It seemed the movie Narnia was filmed there! Also, there was a mini-waterfall. I saw many seals! That s funny! Actually, I only saw their little black heads. At the last part of the journey, we went to a bar secretly. I tried an alcoholic drink called Strongbow. It was awesome! It was the best drink I have ever had. Although it is an alcoholic drink, it was not bitter at all. It was actually a little bit sweet! I think you should come to this place at least once in your life because I think that it is very comfortable and relaxing. My pressure completely disappeared there. You must make a visit to Dartmoor! Moo!! Don t disturb us! F.5E Ngan Heung Pui Let s see God s creative hands! It s such a hot day! Hands up! Give us all your money!

8 A Day in Woodland Park 'Sea Dragon Swing Ship' was the first game we played in Woodland Park. I was really scared as it was my first time to play this sort of terrible games. I kept saying, 'Oh my goodness' and 'I don't want to play!' While I was waiting and watching people screaming, my friend encouraged me to play the game and she said that it was extremely exciting. I thought she was crazy at that time! I didn't understand why people risked their life to play this kind of games. I was afraid that I might fall and got killed. But finally I played the game. It was as terrible as I thought and I swore I would never play it again though I really had fun. (Don't ask me what it looked like when I was swung to the sky-i closed my eyes the whole time!) Then we played the "The Ultimate Water Coaster Rides" which was the most enjoyable and exciting game I had ever played. Because of the previous experience, I was even more frightened than before. However, I tried and survived. I found this game wasn't so terrible. I got all wet after rushing to the water four times because of this game! But I liked it. When compared Woodland Park with Ocean Park, Woodland Park is much smaller than Ocean Park and fewer animals are kept there. However, to my surprise, I saw a phoenix while watching my friends playing the 'Sea Dragon Swing Ship'. It was beautiful but I still wonder why it was allowed to walk around freely. F.5B Wan Oi Ling Come and join us! Wow! It s exciting! 8

9 What I Have Experienced in the English Immersion Programme In this English Immersion Programme, I had all my lessons with two LKT Form 5 students and four students from other schools in Hong Kong. We learned and laughed together. Our class teachers were Jean and Steve, they are very nice and we usually talked, spelt, listened, read, and wrote in the class. They also played many games with us in order to make us learn more English. In this English Immersion Programme, all the students needed to stay in a host family and spent all the days with them. In my host family, I experienced how nice and kind UK people were. In the class, we met students from different countries. So, I discovered that people from different places had their own usual practice which is quite interesting. In a nutshell, I have learned many new things from my friends, classmates, host family and teachers. Good morning, everyone. Let s get started! F.1D Ng Wan Yee Hello! We are from Hong Kong. Where are you from? Do you mind answering some questions? One by one. We are now going into our classroom. 9

10 What I Have Experienced in the English Immersion Programme In this two-week English Immersion Programme, I have learnt a lot and my speaking skills have been slightly improved. The most important part of the trip was this English programme which greatly broadened my horizons of knowledge and experience. It made my summer holiday happy and meaningful. In the weekdays, we had regular classes in the morning. The communicative style of language teaching helped improve my English communication skills and it really encouraged me to communicate with foreign people. These lessons equipped us with the skills needed to survive and function in an English environment. Moreover, we played a lot of funny games in class. It could help us familiarize with the useful sentence structures, grammar and tenses while we were having fun in it. The game that I enjoyed the most was Change Places. It was a game that could help us to get used to different conditions of If-clauses. Our class often played it in the spare time. Of course, we all had fun in it! In the afternoons, lots of extra-curricular activities and events were provided, such as IPC Olympics, sports activities, Ceilihle, Karaoke, Disco and Talent night. These activities gave us the chance to learn English vocabulary in varied categories and provided us a lot of opportunities to make friends from different countries. The tutors who taught our class were Frances and Chris. Frances was my class teacher. She went to many places when she was young, so she often shared her experience with us. She was very kind and nice. Chris was an archaeologist. He always told us interesting jokes. Thus, we were laughing all the time. He was really funny and humorous! After these two weeks, I definitely recognise the importance of learning English. This language is commonly used all over the world. We cannot survive in an English environment without using it. I enjoyed this trip very much. I hope there will be another chance for me to be here again! F.5E Ngai Ho Ching They are my tutors, Francis and Chris. 10 Quick! We are going to win! Be careful! The London Bridge is falling down!

11 My Memorable Moments with My Host Family Staying with our host family is one of the most important events in my study tour. Andy, June, and their daughter, Jodie are the three members in my host family. When I arrived at England, I first visited Oxford and Stonehenge. After that tiring afternoon, I met June and Jodie in Moto, a very big car park. It was already about 6 p.m. After settling down, we went to a supermarket down hill, Sainsbury, with June. She was nice. She asked me what I like to eat or drink and what I like to do in my spare time. She talked to me all the time while we were in the supermarket for an hour. When we reached home, I saw two sweet boys, James and Louis, June s neighbours. They are twins. They are the first two people I met in Exeter. At the end of the day, we watched a movie together. The next day was Sunday, a holiday. I went out with them. They took me to Teignmouth, a city quite near Exeter. There was a beautiful seaside. After having a British breakfast, we started our journey. They sang all the time on the way to Teignmouth. It was quite joyful. They introduced me the buildings near us. Although they didn t play with me much, walking around with them and taking photos everywhere were very enjoyable. They are the members of our host families. 11

12 I played with Jodie and Ricardo, the two boys stayed in the same bedroom with me for two weeks. They wanted to write their names in Chinese and asked me to teach them. They tried very hard and their handwriting in Chinese was funny! They looked like kindergarten students. And the happiest thing is that Jodie told me she still remembers how to write her Chinese name now! On the last day before I left, everything was the same as two weeks ago. However, my feeling towards my host family was greatly different. I told June that I would give them the gifts I brought from Hong Kong. I took some Chinese fans, calligraphy and accessories to England. They all liked the gifts and felt very happy. The last time I saw them was in Moto, the same place where I first met them. As that was Sunday, Jodie was still in bed when I left at 7 in the morning. I left with Ricardo at the same time, June s eyes turned red that day. I will never forget it! One thing I m sure is that I have a very good relationship with June, Andy, Jodie, and their neighbour, Diane, who took care of my friend during the time in Exeter. F.5A Cheung Chi Chung This is the host family for the teachers. 12

13 My Memorable Moments with My Host Family There are only two people in my host family and they are a couple. Their children and grandchildren don t live with them in the same house but they live near them. They are about fifty years old and they are Steward and Yvonne. They are really easy-going. I have lots of memorable moments with them. They always invited me to go out with them. They are good at cooking and their home-made desserts are really delicious. The two family activities I enjoyed most were playing Boules and visiting the beach nearby. Boules is a kind of French ball games. Steward is a Boules coach. He is good at playing this game and he taught me how to play it. Although I think this game is quite boring, I still like it because I haven't seen it before and Boules is more special than football. The beach which was near my host family's house is really clean and beautiful. There was no rubbish on the beach and the sand was soft. We didn't swim there because it was too dangerous for us to swim with no lifeguards around. Steward and Yvonne are very considerate people. They thought that I was bored at home, so they often drove me to different places. Don't you think that they are very kind and gentle? They are Steward and Yvonne. F5B Chan Lok Ting How do you like my bedroom? 13

14 My Memorable Moments with My Host Family I will protect you and my wife will take care of you said Paul, my English Dad. This is the first sentence that Paul said to me when we met. My mind was entirely full of nervousness on the first day in UK. When Paul and Diane met me, they tried to help me relax. They were afraid that I might become homesick, so they told me that I could use their computer to contact my parents. Although Paul is a smoker, he smoked in the garden only during these two weeks. They are as thoughtful as my parents. The first Sunday was the first day and the only day of the whole week I stayed with them. We went to the supermarket together in the afternoon. Diane asked me many questions about Hong Kong, my family and my favorites. We walked along the aisles and talked, spending more than an hour in the supermarket. We almost forgot that we had not had our lunch yet. In that evening, two more European came. They are very nice too. At the weekend, there was a barbecue. Most of the family members joined it. Their daughters, grandsons and even great grandsons came. The house was full of cheer. They sang and danced until mid-night. Diane also invited Orange to join us. She was afraid that we had not got enough to eat. She prepared some Chinese rice especially for us. She was a considerate mother. I experienced a different culture while I was staying in Exeter. Besides, I learnt how to be with strangers. Also, I learned what patience is, too. Everyday, Diane spoke to us slowly and waited for us to finish our sentences. However, she never felt annoyed. If I will ever go to Exeter again, I will definitely stay with Diane s family. Look! My English dad and mom are seating behind me. F.5B Leung Nga Hei 14 This is our living room.

15 A Wonderful Tour to Stonehenge Before I went to England, I often saw photos or pictures with many strange stones. I didn t know what the name of that place was and I thought that they were just ordinary stones. Why did the savants be on tiptoe with curiosity of it? After I saw Stonehenge personally, my feeling has been changed. It is so amazing and mysterious! The stones are arranged to form a circle and some stones are piled up with lintels. Then, you would have a lot of questions at this moment. As the stones are so large, how did the people pile them up? Furthermore, there were no advanced machines to elevate the stones in the ancient time. Consequently, the savant dissected the secret constantly. However, I have learnt more about Stonehenge. The whole area there is very large and Stonehenge is in the middle. It is full of bright green grasses and the soft wind grazed to your face. The feeling was quite good. In Hong Kong, you can never see such a big lawn. When I saw the big lawn, I wanted to sleep on it or ran across it. This was my first intention. Maybe you may think that I was so crazy. But I know if you were there, you would have the same feeling like me. At last, I just walked around the lawn. If I would have one more chance to visit Stonehenge, I would really run and smile! Stonehenge is so mysterious! F.5B Lee Ka Wai Say Cheese! Hi! Mr. Lau, we are all here! 15

16 A visit to the Natural History Museum Entering the great Natural History Museum, a dinosaur stood exquisitely. It seemed I was disturbing the serenity. It was kind of strange of meeting something did not exist now. Shocked by the size of the dinosaur, I crane forward to look at the creature closely, thinking that what the world looked like in its era. Driven by imagination, the dinosaur is seemingly alive! Just like the terrible scenes in the movie Night at the museum, I wouldn t eliminate this probability. After all, there are still thousands of mysteries that have not been solved by human beings! What a pity that I could not stay there at night. Besides the great dinosaurs, a large number of fossils can be found in the museum. All kinds of birds, reptiles and marine animals..let alone human beings! Nothing could live without traces. Archaeologists are the people who discover and examine them. They have contributed greatly to explore the past. However, do we always benefit from letting the past come alive again? Some scientists are trying to abstract the gene from dinosaurs in order to reproduce a new generation of dinosaurs. Is it really a great idea? What consequences may it cause? Think, just think! F.5B Wan Oi Ling A very fine building! 16

17 Attractive Tourist Sites in London In fact, there are many fabulous and incredible sites deserved to be mentioned in London. However, time is limited. I am going to choose some special places to share with you. First, I want to talk about London Eye. I had seen it in the day time and the night time respectively. It is a popular Ferris wheel in London, even in the world! At the time of construction, it was the biggest in the world. Nevertheless, there are now larger wheels, such as the Singapore Flyer. However, it has become the most paid visitor attraction in the UK. It looks like a big fire-circle floating in the air. When we reached the highest point, we were all shocked by the thrilling scenes. I also took a lot of photos but I am not ready to show them to you! Ha! Have you ever been to the Tower Bridge? I can help you to answer this question. No! Many people are not able to distinguish between the Tower Bridge and the London Bridge. They usually mix up the two buildings because the Tower Bridge is the icon of London. But actually, the London Bridge is a different bridge built on the same river (what is the name of the river? TIMES!!!). I prefer the dignified Tower Bridge to the simple Do you recognize what s behind us? What a wonderful view! We are now on the top of London! 17

18 Here we are at Greenwich! London Bridge. I also tried to sing the popular song London Bridge is falling down when we were crossing the London Bridge. I think it was a little bit strange to me! My first impression about Royal Observatory Greenwich is---nothing special. I think it was a normal house until I saw a board writing Prime Meridian! I was speechless at that moment! It was a well-known line in the world, also known as the International Meridian or Greenwich Meridian. It is the line of longitude passing through the Royal Greenwich Observatory, Greenwich, England, and the whole world! It was a special experience to stand on the common boundary of the Southern and Northern Hemisphere! F.5B Ngan Heung Pui 18

19 My feeling about UK My feeling about UK cannot be explained completely in words.uk really made me laugh and cry, love and hate. A terrible accident on my leg is also a sweet memory to me. My leg got hurt in the beginning of the study tour and therefore I was unable to participate in many of the sports activities. However, an unforgettable incident happened during the hard time. It happened on the day to visit Dartmmor. Walking on the hill was just far too much for me. I was quite well at first, but when we went further, I just could not even stand well. I became more and more frightened and weak after a long walk, I didn't know why I felt sad and cried while walking. Perhaps it was because I was too tired or too nervous, because I feared that I got hurt again. I hate crying but just could not help. I cried more and more seriously. My team leader, Bob noticed that and asked me why I was crying. "Do you feel painful?" "No", I answered. "So why are you crying?" I told him I just felt afraid. He then let me hold his hand and walked with him. I still couldn't stop my tears welled up in my eyes. Meanwhile, he told me some jokes and tried to cheer me up. He picked up a plant, saying that it was a lucky flower which could bring me luck. He also said that day was his lucky day because he had a young lady holding his hand. I said it was my lucky day too, for the reason I had a man holding my hand and walked with me just like my grandfather. He really made me think of my grandfather who passed away when I was ten or eleven. Because of it, I cried more seriously than before. I thanked Bob a lot for his help and encouragement. He is the best team leader I ve ever met. I now keep that lucky plant in my room and it is my most precious treasure forever. 19

20 There were also some interesting things happened in UK. One day in Exeter while I was waiting for the bus to IPC, a man said 'Hello' in Putonghua to me. He is a foreigner, not a Chinese. I was wooden at first, then I replied, 'Hello'. It was really funny! I think maybe he was working in a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. I love England a lot. I feel like a real British during the trip. Living in England, speaking English and eating what British eat, everything was just amazing! The greatest thing I love about the UK is the weather. It is not as hot as Hong Kong. Also, there is no air-pollution and there are beaches everywhere. I hope I can study in England in the future! I love UK!!I love UK!!I love UK!!I love UK!!I love UK! I would never forget this experience. Moreover, I look forward to going to England again!! F.5B Wan Oi Ling Can you take a picture for us, please? I really want to remember this moment! 20